Tag Archives: embossing techniques

Hello, Friends! It’s time for another great challenge over on the Frilly and Funkie Blog. I’ve created a shabby chic Eileen Hull Treasure Box and Notebook Insert Tutorial using Stamperia Spring Botanic papers for my inspiration piece. But before we take a look at that, let’s see what the magnificent Maggi Harding, our challenge hostess, has to say about this challenge.

Challenge Theme: Spring is in full bloom!This is my favorite time of the year. Here in the south the trees and shrubs are all blooming and showing their splendor. Many are busy planting their vegetable gardens. The migrating birds have returned to build nests and raise a new family. Your challenge is to create a vintage or shabby chic project that illustrates the magic of spring in bloom!

You all know how much I love creating little lap books filled with pretty papers, interactive elements and sweet embellishments. It’s truly one of the most satisfying ways I know to spend time in my studio. But, when you can create a sweet little box to house that little lap book…well, then I’m pretty much in heaven. When Eileen Hull released her new Treasure Box and Notebook Dies, I was instantly hooked!

I mean…really, people! That darling little notebook tucks right inside the Treasure Box. The Treasure Box measures about 5 1/2″ x 3 1/4″ x 4 1/8″ when finished. And the wee notebook is just as darling at 3 5/8″ x 5″. Cut the pieces from mat board and you’ll be thrilled when you see that all the fold lines are pre-creased for easy assembly. This frees you up for what I call “the fun stuff.” You are ready to decorate and embellish in minutes.

I can think of about a dozen different ways to use this box/notebook combo. But altering them with these stunning Stamperia Spring Botanic papers was first on my list. Since I know many of you will want to give this project a whirl, I’ve prepared a tutorial for you to follow. Because of that, I won’t be sharing a ton of details in my blog post. They are all in the video for you to enjoy.

Seth Apter Baked Velvet Embossing Powders

As someone who loves to embellish with metals, I’m always thrilled when a product comes along to make my job easier. All the metals and chipboard used in this project have been altered with Seth Apter’s Mediterranean Baked Velvet Embossing powders. There are several different ways you can apply these:

Press the item into a VersaMark Embossing Ink Pad. Then sprinkle with the desired powder and heat emboss.

Paint the item with Distress Paint, then sprinkle with Baked Velvet while the paint is still wet. Heat emboss.

Cover an item with liquid adhesive and then sprinkle on the Baked Velvet…but this time don’t heat emboss. You’ll add a lovely soft, almost suede, texture to the item.

Mix and match powders to create a custom color.

Layer colors as did in this project…and you’ll learn all about that in the tutorial below.

Spring Botanic Notebook: A Peek Inside

This Spring Botanic Notebook is not a mini album in the sense that it is not designed to hold photos. My inspiration was to create a sort of lap book, or look book filled with gorgeous images. Beautiful spring poetry and artful spring quotes are sprinkled through the pages. I’ve used Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs, Ephemera bits, Paper Dolls and Clippings to enhance the theme.

Here’s a quick peek at some of what you’ll find inside this darling mini album.

If you’re ready to dig in and see how this lovely little project came together, just click play.

You’ll find a linked supply list at the end of this post. To see more Eileen Hull tutorials on my blog click HERE.

Spring is in full bloom! Now it’s YOUR turn!

You are cordially invited to join in on this fun challenge. To do so, simply create your own vintage or shabby chic spring themed project. Then link up on the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog before 11:55PM EDT on Tuesday, May 7th. You can find all the rules and information HERE.

The winner will earn the chance of a Guest Designer spot at Frilly and Funkie, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. In addition, the Design Team will select three further outstanding entries and those creators will receive a Top Pick badge to display on their blogs!

I can’t wait to see what you make!

I hope I’ve shared some tips, tricks and inspiration that you can use in your own crafty adventures. If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

A Trio of Graphic 45 Communique Cards for Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie

Hello, Friends! This is an exciting day for me, as it’s my turn to host Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie. Twice a month, we focus in on one of the fabulous product lines carried in the shop and share a special project or two with you. For the next two weeks, the Funkie Junkie Boutique offers an additional 15% discount on Friday Focus products. It’s a great time to stock up on fabulous goodies for your crafty stash.

This time around, we’re featuring one of my all time favorite product lines: Graphic 45! The Funkie Junkie Boutique has a great selection of Graphic 45 papers, chipboard, pockets and tags and stamps. They also offer fantastic BUNDLE DEALS at excellent prices. I dug into my stash of Communique papers and worked up a trio of cards that I’m sharing over on the F&F blog.

This is just a sneaky peek of one project I’m sharing. I’ll meet you over at the Frilly and Funkie Blog where I’ll share more details. And then I’m going shopping…because the only thing better than Graphic 45 papers, is a Friday Focus SALE on Graphic 45 papers! You’d better get there before I do! LOL

Cracked Glass Technique for Let’s Make it a Trio Challenge at Frilly and Funkie

Hello friends! It’s time for another great challenge at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog. Sue is our hostess this go round, and this is her theme: Let’s make it a trio! She is challenging us to work in 3’s on a project, 3 tags, 3 panels, 3 arches etc…. so for this challenge create projects including 3 of something, but this does need to be the main focal point of your project.

Here’s my Let’s Make it a Trio project:

This was such a fun card to create! I chose to work with Pion Design Paris Flea Market papers and they are soooo lush! Now, how many three’s did I incorporate into my Let’s Make it a Trio design?

I die cut THREE of Tim’s Ornate Frames, then stacked them with adhesive foam to create a dimensional frame for my image, which was treated with THREE layers of UTEE, heat embossing between each layer. I sprinkled in a few fine grains of glitter and embossing enamel so that the framed image would look like a very old photograph. When the embossing had cooled completely, I gently bent it to crack it, giving it the look of cracked glass.

There are THREE loops on my woven black stripes linen

The linen is topped with 3 sweet Wild Orchid Craft blossoms

I used three different types of ribbon and trim (see the wrinkled pink ribbon and the white burlap string bow that is holding the bundle of love letters together?)

There are 3 fussy cut butterflies

There are also 3 postage stamps

So, I think I managed to meet Sue’s “Let’s Make it a Trio” Challenge

Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.

I achieved the crackle finish on my frame by painting it with Clear Rock Candy Distress Paint. When it had dried, I spritzed it with a tincture of water and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I love this technique!

To give my bundle of love letters more body, I distressed the edges and added layers of torn paper behind the image from the Paris Flea Market ephemera. Everything was inked up with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to make them look like letters found in an attic trunk, and then I added the real bow, burlap string and painted bird cage charm. The sweet little key from the Valentine Embellishment kit was tapped with Distress paint, and makes a lovely body on my butterfly.

The inside of the card uses THREE different papers from the paper collection and a lovely stamped quote from Wendy Vecchi’s brand new Blooming Art Stamp set.

You can find links to all these supplies in the Funkie Junkie Boutique if you click on the thumblinkys below the post. Everything in the shop is priced about 20% below retail price, and you’ll never find better customer service anywhere. Besides, her shop is GORGEOUS!

Be sure to pop over and visit the Frilly and Funkie BLOG where you will find lovely inspiration from the Frilly side of the team for this Let’s Make it a Trio challenge. And don’t forget to play along with us!

The winner will earn the chance of a Guest DT spot on the Frilly and Funkie BLOG, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. And there are Top 3 Badges for three further outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team, because choosing just one winner is so hard!

Frilly and Funkie: Enjoy your Embossing Challenge

Hello, Friends! I am so excited about today’s post, as I get to tell you a secret that I’ve been bursting to share for a while now. As many of you know, I am huge fan of The Funkie Junkie Boutique and their amazing Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog. Their design team inspires me so much that even though my schedule does not allow for a lot of blog reading these days, I never fail to check in and see what they are up to. So imagine my surprise and delight when I was invited to join the team! Yippee! The first project I get to share with you was made for their Enjoy Your Embossing Challenge, I’m still pinching myself to make sure this is not just a lovely dream. (If it is, I may just keep right on snoozing!)

You all know how much I already enjoy my embossing powders, so this challenge theme is right up my alley: Make a vintage or shabby chic project of your choice and remember to include some embossing. Use your favorite embossing methods (wet, dry, heat, or any other techniques you want to share) – just enjoy your embossing!

Since we are coming right up on Valentine’s Day, I decided to create a romantic tag using the Mon Amour papers from Graphic 45. I have links to all the products I used to make the tag below so that you can make one of your own if you wish. I began the project with an 8″ x 8″ paper (Precious One) from the collection. After die cutting a standard tag from the flip side of the paper, I stamped the flat side of an embossing folder with embossing ink and ran it through my Big Shot. The tag was then covered with Stampendous Shabby Pink Embossing Powder and heat embossed. The end result was a richly textured tag with loads of sparkle and shine!

Yummy! One tip: when working with this type of embossing powder, heat from the underside to prevent blowing the powder everywhere! And be patient: it takes a little longer to melt. I generally get it started on the back side, then finish the process by applying heat directly to the top side. It saves a lot of mess! Next, I spritzed the sides of the tag and distressed the edges with a distressing tool. The embossed tag was then glued onto a black Ranger tag. This added both stability and a nice black border around the edges.,

But we are not done embossing yet! We are enjoying it far too much! So I created this fabulous butterfly using Tim’s Layered Butterfly Die/Embossing Folder combo. The butterfly was die cut with a pearlized cream cardstock, then placed in the matching embossing folder. I had prepped the flat side of the folder with embossing ink, just as I did for the tag. A quick trip through the Big Shot, a dusting of gold embossing powder and the butterfly was ready for its beauty treatment. I squished Victorian Velvet, Spun, Sugar and Tattered Rose onto my non-stick craft sheet and then spritzed it lightly with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist. I pressed the embossed side of the die cut butterfly into the ink and voila! A gorgeous pink butterfly emerged! After heat setting the color, I shaped the wings and attached it to my tag.

This was topped with fussy cut roses, a fussy cut lady from the paper sheet, and a wooden button that I had in my stash. Venice lace was added to the base of the tag along with a hand painted Baby Blush Venice Lace Heart .

The title and little butterfly were cut from the paper pad and layered under the roses. The antique bronze heart and arrow charm was filled with the word “love” from the paper collection and then tapped with Picket Fence Distress Paint. How’s that for romance?

The shabby chic bow was made with seam binding that I custom dyed with the same pink Distress Inks I used on the butterfly wings. I topped it with that sparkling black Petaloo Jeweled flower for contrast.

Now the best part of this whole Enjoy Your Embossing Challenge is that YOU get to play along! Just visit the Frilly and Funkie BLOGto link your project up and the team will be stopping by to leave you lovely comments! A winner will be chosen as a guest designer on the blog, or to win a favorites badge that you can proudly display on your own blog. And one lucky participant will be randomly chosen to win a $25 shopping spree at the Funkie Junkie Boutique. What fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions about the challenge or the construction of the tag, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.